Infinite DC - Will & Hope
by J.A.Phillips
Summary: AU. John Stewart, the only Green Lantern on Earth. Wally West, the new Flash, armed with the blue light of hope. Can they survive against something that seeks to blot out both of their lights?


**_DISCLAIMER:_ John Stewart was created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams, the Green Lantern Corps were created by John Broome and Gil Kane, and the Blue Lantern Corps and Red Lantern Corps were created by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. Wally West was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino. Bleez and Dex-Starr were created by Geoff Johns and Shane Davis. If you haven't guessed, I don't own anyone mentioned below. This story exists in my own fan-made continuity and should not be considered to be part of any already defined by the comics, television series, or movies, thought it may take cues from other established continuities created for Green Lantern or The Flash.**

* * *

"_In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night,_  
_No Evil Shall Escape My Sight._  
_Let Those Who Worship Evil's Might,_  
_Beware My Power, Green Lantern's Light!_"

John Stewart could feel the power of his Power Ring build back to normal as he spoke the Oath of the Green Lantern Corps, the Power Battery sitting nearby streaming energy into it. The ex-Marine let out a long sigh as he brought his fist back to his side, letting the power balance itself out. He was still getting used to this process, having only been a Green Lantern, an intergalactic space-cop of sorts, for a few months. What made things all the more difficult for John, though, was that he was the ONLY Green Lantern on Earth, since the man who enlisted him, Hal Jordan, was in the deep reaches of space, fighting a terrible war against evil. Even in the USMC, this was a situation he was never placed in: One soldier, with no back-up.

"Man, do you HAVE to use that kind of stuffy language when you recharge your ring?" a nasal-sounding voice mumbled through food.

John sighed. Perhaps NO back-up wasn't completely correct, as the Guardians of the Universe had decided to pair him up with the red-haired young man sitting at a kitchen table behind him, munching on a subway sandwich. Of course, while he was meant to be a partner of sorts, John tended to think of him more as a pain in his neck that he was being tasked to look after, like he was his babysitter or something.

Wallace Bartholomew West was his name, and unlike the Green Lanterns who wielded the physical embodiment of willpower, Wally had come into contact with a prototype Blue Power Ring, which was fuelled by the essence of hope. It had been flying in Earth's atmosphere, looking for a suitable wielder, when it was struck by lightning and sent hurtling into the crime lab Wally worked in. The chemicals kept in the lab were sent showering all over him, along with the electricity of the lightning bolt and the energies of the ring. According to the Guardians, 999,999 times out of 1,000,000, this accident would've either killed him or left him horribly burned for the rest of his life. Instead, the ring's energies were altered and bonded to Wally, granting him lightning-speed for as long as hope lived in his heart.

"...Yes, Wally," John explained. "For the 100th time, it is necessary to quote the Green Lantern Oath exactly, and will you at least finish chewing before you talk? Isn't that the fifth one of those you've had today?"

Wally gulped down his food hard. "...Sorry. Still getting used to the changes to my digestive system and metabolism."

"Anyway, you're just lucky that your Blue Power Ring was altered and doesn't need to be recharged from a Power Battery," John went on.

"Ugh, tell me about it," Wally agreed. "Knowing my luck, it'd be something like 'In the name of love and justice!'."

"Wrong colour, Wallace," John pointed out, eyes narrowed. "Your ring runs off hope, not love."

"Right, right..." Wally replied with a nod. "Man, how many of these are there?"

John folded his arms, thinking back. "They're still experimenting with different aspects of the emotional spectrum, but last I checked, there were only four kinds of operable rings: Green for willpower, yellow for fear, red for anger, and blue for hope. Hal told me there was an accident with a violet crystal once, but I never-"

John felt his eye twitch hard as he was interrupted by the sound of snoring. This was the problem with working with someone whose mind went at super-speed: Bore Wally even a little bit, and he might as well not even be there. Whatever was going on in space, John was just praying it ended soon and Hal returned to Earth. Much more of this, and John might just use the Green Power Ring's ability to create constructs of green light to make a rifle and shoot himself. Then again, he couldn't blame the other Green Lanterns for not being around. After all, whatever was going on out there had to be FAR more exciting than anything that happened on Earth.

* * *

_"With Blood And Rage Of Crimson Red,_  
_Ripped From A Corpse So Freshly Dead,_  
_Together With Our Hellish Hate,_  
_We'll Burn You All-That Is Your Fate!"_

Bleez moaned in delight as the power funnelled from the Red Power Battery into her ring. Her Red Power Ring, the channeller of her rage, and the symbol of her salvation. The thing that allowed her to take horrible vengeance on her oppressors.

She had once been a princess of the planet Havania, a world far away from her current location, deep in Space Sector 33, with gorgeous white skin, long dark hair, and magnificent black-feathered wings. Then, they came: the Sinestro Corps. Also known as the Yellow Lanterns, they spread throughout the universe, like a wildfire of fear. Havania was one of the many places they visited, where they took Bleez and made her into their slave, torturing her for their own amusement. Her murderous rage at how they used her was more than enough to lead one of the rings of the Red Lantern Corps to her, granting her the power to take sweet, bloody vengeance on her jailers.

Regardless, that was the past. Now, she had a job to do: While the vast majority of the Red Lantern Corps were in glorious battle with the Sinestro Corps and the Green Lantern Corps in deep space, their leader, Atrocitus, sent Bleez to the planet Earth with two goals: To find and kill the rumoured Blue Lantern, and to look for possible recruits. After all, given how jaded and frustrated with their lives humans can sometimes be, they made for prime candidates.

_Then again, why take the time to look for new Red Lanterns myself, taking away from possible mayhem I can cause, when I can let one of the spare rings Atrocitus gave me do the job for me?_ Bleez thought, taking out a spare Red Power Ring. Giving a small kiss to the emblem on it, she tossed it into the air, watching as it took off in search of a worthy wielder. Stretching her wings out a bit, Bleez moaned as she prepared her strike, knowing it would bring the Blue Lantern out of hiding.

* * *

John's eyes widened in alert as he heard a loud explosion outside his apartment. Looking out the window, he saw it: A skyscraper on fire, in particularly red flames, the kind he'd only seen once before, in a training video shown to him back on Oa: The red flames of rage and hate. The flames created by a Red Lantern.

"Wally, wake up!" John yelled, creating a green hand to slap the redhead awake with his ring.

"Wha-what?!" Wally cried, falling out of his chair. "What's going on?!"

"Trouble, that's what!" John barked. "Suit up!"

Wally nodded, getting to his feet as John curled a fist, green energy surrounding himself and changing his clothes into his green and black Green Lantern uniform. Wally dug out his Blue Power Ring, flipping it before threading his finger in it perfectly, a blue and black costume appearing on him. Unlike John's, though, this costume had a mask coming over his head and eyes, and a number of lightning bolts adorning it, including one that crossed the Blue Lantern emblem on his chest.

"...Seriously, what's with the lightning bolts?" John asked.

"Hey, The Flash was my hero as a kid," Wally replied with a shrug. "I just feel like carrying on his legacy, y'know?"

"Whatever, let's go!" the Green Lantern ordered, his body coated in green light as he flew out the window, Flash dashing ahead.

Arriving near the burning building, John fired up his ring, immediately detecting that there were no people inside, though plenty nearby that could be hurt. As such, he quickly created a giant green syringe construct that sucked the water from a nearby lake, then changed it into a water gun, hosing down the building as best as he could. Seeing this wasn't enough, Flash ran as fast as he could around the building, hitting every fire hydrant he saw along the way. The combined water shooting up from the hydrants and being pumped from the lake swirled about with Wally's momentum, creating a massive whirlpool to douse out the fire. Within a minute of arriving on the scene, the two heroes had put the fire out.

Flash came to a halt to give John a thumbs up. "Nice job, GL!"

John looked around at the slightly flooded block. "...Yeah, now let's get out of here before the police show up to charge us with water damage."

"So who do you think did this?" Wally asked. "Firebug? Weather Wizard? Or maybe some ordinary arsonists?"

"None of the above, Blue Lantern..."

GL and Flash turned to face the one speaking to them. Standing on a nearby rooftop was Bleez, looking down on them sinisterly, her skeletal wings stretched out. John sweat-dropped, knowing his worst fears were realised: A Red Lantern on Earth, and he was the only Green Lantern to stand against them. Wally, however, just smirked back at Bleez.

"Unless you're Volcana having a SERIOUSLY BAD Goth phase, I'm gonna assume you're somebody new?" Flash joked, making GL want to slap him...again.

"You dumbass, she's a Red Lantern!" John shouted, just before getting hit by a red construct of a small meteor and crashing to the ground below.

Wally gasped, but didn't have time to do more than that for John, as Bleez was suddenly in front of him, swinging claws at him. Luckily, being The Flash, he was able to dodge all of her attacks. She growled lowly, throwing harsh kicks at him, faster and harder with each one, only for them all to miss.

"Fight back!" Bleez demanded.

"Yeah, like I'd have to!" Flash shot back. "Besides, I don't really do the 'hitting women' thing!"

"How chivalrous of you!" Bleez screeched, sending out a wave of blood-like energy that knocked Flash back. "Not to mention stupid!"

Just before Bleez could attack again, John Stewart came down on her, his ring creating the construct of a mace. The Red Lantern simply grinned, creating an axe to counter, the two weapons clanging together. The two opposing Lanterns swung for each other, only to dodge and parry each other's attacks. Finally, Bleez had enough, sending out a small band of energy from the axe to trip John up. She then flew up a couple of feet and created a giant pair of red scissors, looking to cut the Green Lantern in half, but he managed to block it with an emerald boulder, sending it crashing into her and knocking her to the ground.

"Guess they don't play that game in outer space, huh?" John asked.

"I would just like to note, I had a much better zinger in the waiting!" Wally declared, getting up.

Just as the two were about to apprehend Bleez, they found themselves backing off as a red spray of some sort soaked the rooftop, burning whole sections of it away. The two looked to the source in astonishment: A blue house-cat wearing a Red Lantern uniform, a Red Power Ring stuck onto its tail. It hissed at them, the red plasma-like fluid dripping from its fangs.

"...That IS a cat, right?" Wally asked, dumbfounded.

"...Dex-Starr..." the cat mewed.

"And now the cat is talking," John noted. "Flash, did you spike our drinks earlier?"

The cat, Dex-Starr, roared as he flipped forward, the ring creating the construct of a giant scythe on his tail. Flash and GL scrambled, the scythe cleaving straight through the solid stone of the rooftop with ease. Dex-Starr then dove toward Flash, trying to slash at him with his claws, scythe-tail, and fangs, Flash desperately dodging.

"No, kitty!" Wally cried. "Bad kitty! Go get stuck in a tree, kitty!"

John quickly tried to create a pair of pliers to get ahold of Dex-Starr, but Bleez chose that exact moment to grab hold of him from behind with burning red energy. "Oh no, no, no! You're not to touch the newest Red Lantern...until you've become one yourself!"

"Fat...chance...lady...!" GL replied, trying to get free.

"Oh, come now," Bleez whispered, gently sliding a nail along John's shoulder while reaching up to place a Red Power Ring on his finger. "I can feel a lot of anger under that bold exterior. So much repressed rage, and you've never wanted to let it all go? You never wondered what it might be like...?"

Flash looked over in horror as Bleez was about to slide on the red ring. "NO!"

Suddenly, a blue wave of energy burst out from Wally's ring, knocking Dex-Starr back. It then rushed past the Red Power Ring being forcefully placed on John's finger, disintegrating it, then fed John's Green Power Ring additional power. With a yell, the Green Lantern swung around, breaking free of Bleez' hold, and knocked her across the rooftop with an energy blast from his ring. John's eyes widened, taking in what happened, looking to his ring in amazement.

"...Power level's at 200% and rising!" John exclaimed. "Is that the power of Wally's ring?!"

Dex-Starr quickly raced over to Bleez, licking her cheek before he found himself levitating off the ground with her. "Right, time for a tactical retreat...!"

Bleez flew off, Dex-Starr in her arms, disappearing into the skies. John sighed, opting to use his ring to put what pieces of the rooftop that were still intact back together, rebuilding it as best as he could. Thankfully, with his power increase, it wasn't all that hard a feat.

"...Well, the bad guys got away, but at least nobody got hurt," Flash pointed out.

John nodded. "Think I know what they were after. That ring of yours seems to cancel out Red Lantern abilities and power up Green Power Rings. That makes you their biggest obstacle."

Wally sighed, looking to his ring. "Great. More trouble I'm getting into."

"...Excuse me?"

The two turned, facing the person talking to them. To Flash and GL's amazement, there stood a young African-American man, his body covered in steel machinery. He looked to the two, looking somewhat nervous and embarrassed.

"...Sorry I'm late to the party y'all just had," the Man of Steel said. "Name's Cyborg, and I kinda need your help...Which one of you two is The Flash?"

* * *

**_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_** Sorry this took so long, but I wanted to focus primarily on Man of Tomorrow, since it's Superman's 75th Anniversary and I wanted to get the story out long before the year was up. Then I started Birds of Prey: Dark, which got it shoved back further, and then I decided to add the little bit at the end with Cyborg, as yes, this ties in with the upcoming JLA fic I have in mind. Still, I hope this met expectations, and hey, let's see about maybe doing future team-up one-shots.

So, a few things to cover. Long story short, I chose Wally over Barry because I found Wally to be the more interesting and funny character. However, one could consider this version of Wally a combination of himself and Barry, as he works in a crime lab and uses a Blue Lantern Ring, albeit that was only temporary with Barry. I also decided to change his middle name to Bartholomew, just as further tribute to Barry. His abilities are his super-speed, which is limited only by how much hope is in his heart at the time, he can vibrate through solid objects, and he possesses the ability to release people from mind control and cancel out the powers of a Red Power Ring. However, unlike other Blue Lanterns, he can't fly or create constructs, and while he can grant nearby Green Lanterns a power boost, he can't will it to happen, only occurring when he's in a jam. In other words, he hasn't mastered the full potential of the ring, and what abilities he has tapped into have been altered by the lightning bolt and the chemicals in Wally's lab.

John Stewart's back-story is generally inspired by the one he had in the comics originally, in that he was chosen to be Hal Jordan's back-up. Where it changes is that, while he was still training to become a Green Lantern, a war broke out between the Sinestro Corps and the Red Lanterns, and the Green Lantern Corps had to give him his own ring and make him the sole protector of Space Sector 2814, all the while Hal Jordan is leading the rest of the Corps in battle. The reason I picked John specifically is because he's a popular character, having appeared in a number of interpretations of the DC Universe, including the Justice League cartoon where he was often seen working with, you guessed it, Wally West, AKA The Flash. Oh, and yes, his rock-paper-scissors moment was from Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. lol

Again, Dex-Starr and Bleez's back-stories are very much the same, with one exception: I kinda removed a certain aspect from the horrible ordeals Bleez was put through by the Sinestro Corps. With all due respect to Geoff Johns, as he in many ways made the Green Lantern mythology what it is today, I just don't see why it was necessary to add that. The remaining indignities she suffered are more than enough to justify her going insane and becoming a Red Lantern, and it's my general policy not to add _**THAT** _to a story if there is ANYTHING else that'll fit into the story and do the job just as well...Plus, I might've had to up the rating if I did.

Anyway, hope you liked this. I had a lot of fun writing it. And yes, you will be seeing this duo of Green Lantern and The Flash again in my future fanfiction. Ja né!


End file.
